In their 9th T20I win in a row, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team defeated West Indies by 17 runs in the third of three-match T20I series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. The win was a clean sweep over the West Indies in the T20I series after the one in three-match ODI series.
Winning the toss, the visitors chose to field and restricted India to score 184 runs by losing five wickets in 20 overs. In a change, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan opened for the Indian side but with the former returning back to the pavilion in just 4 runs off 8 balls. Ishan Kishan then went off to score 34 runs off 31 balls before getting bowled by Roston Chase. Kishan, along with Shreyas Iyer (25) added 53 runs for the second wicket. After losing two wickets, Rohit Sharma came to the crease but could just contribute seven runs off 15 balls for his team and was dismissed by Dominik Drakes. However, a classic 65-runs knock off 31 balls by Suryakumar Yadav helped India to post a total of 184 runs on the scoreboard. Also, Venkatesh Iyer scored unbeaten 35 runs off 19 balls.
Chasing the target, the West Indies opening batsmen – Kyle Mayers at 6 off 5 balls and Shai Hope at 8 off 4 balls were sent back earlier by Deepak Chahar. Nicholas Pooran was the top-scoring batsman from the West Indian side, who played a 61-runs knock off 47 balls, followed by Romario Shepherd at 29 and Rovman Powell at 25 runs in 14 balls. In the Indian bowling department, Harshal Patel was the top-performing bowler by giving away the lowest of 22 runs and bagging three wickets. Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Venkatesh Iyer took two wickets each and restricted the visitors at 167 runs in 20 overs.
Suryakumar Yadav, for his brilliant knock, was named the player of the match and he also bagged the player of the series title. The West Indian tour to India for ODI and T20I series was a clean sweep by the Indian side, which was led by Rohit Sharma for the first time as a full-time skipper.
